I decided to do my part of the presentation on Noname. Noname is an MC and poet from Chicago who makes an interesting type of music that is a cross between hip-hop and spoken word poetry. The thing about her that made her a good choice for our presentation is that she has always had a unique outlook on hip hop, gender and race, which she tackles in her music. Her recent tweets about deciding to leave hip hop due to her fanbase being too white for her liking tied nicely into our class discussions. Specifically, the reading by Sujatha Fernandes entitled: “The Making of a Hip Hop Globe”. In her piece, Fernandes writes: “Who is the “we” that makes up the global hip hop generation? … Chang tells us that the hip hop generation includes ‘anyone who is down.’ But, if we think of the historically marginalized communities where hip hop emerged, and the housing projects and tenements across the globe where it resonated, the global hip hop generation would not include an Australian Indian female with a doctoral degree and the means to travel around the world”(6). This relates nicely to Noname’s feelings toward her white audience, she doesn’t view her legions of white fans as active members of the hip-hop community, and doesn’t wish to continue to allow them a spot in what she feels should be a predominantly black space. Whether or not she is right in her opinion, her feelings stem from a very real and nagging question about the place of white people in hip-hop.

https://www.thefader.com/2019/10/30/noname-book-club-daily-show-interview-trevor-noah

https://www.xxlmag.com/news/2019/11/noname-white-crowds-quit-rap/